Revolving door



Dec. 4, 1934. E. EREMI ET AL REVOLVING DOOR 2 she ts-sheet 1 Filed Nov.18, 1955 5 N H S R 5 Y mlw mpshi V m m m? T U A A w m Dec. 4, 1934.

REVOLVING DOOR v Filed Nov. 18, 1933 2 Shee'ts-Sheet 2 55 INVENTORS[ONO/V0 P590 BY CHAPZES he him ATTORNEXS E. PEREM-IY Er AL I 1,9 8 13,395;

Patented Dec. 4, 1934 UETED 1 ST REVOLVING DOOR Edmund Peremi,Manhasset, and Charles Kish, Elmhurst, N. Y., assignors to GeneralBronze Corporation, Long Island City, N. Y., a corporation of New YorkApplication November 18, 1933, Serial No. 698,570

13 Claims.

This invention relates to revolving doors of the type in which aplurality of leaves are normally held in fixed relation upon a rotarycentral support, but in which the leaves are foldably mounted on thesupport, and are adapted to fold in response to abnormal pressureoccurring under panic conditions, or whenever it is desired to clear thedoorway for any purpose.

The invention has for an object to provide mechanism for guiding andsupporting the leaves in their folding movements and for definingmovements of the leaves which are smooth and continuous in nature, therebeing no sudden shifting of rotational axes and hence no abrupt changeof direction of the path of the portion of the leaf engaged by theoperator.

It is a further object of the invention to provide controlling mechanismfor attaining the above ends which is capable of firmly and positivelycontrolling the leaves throughout their folding movements, and thiswithout tolerating any point of exceptional weakness at which wabblingof the leaf is permitted or at which exceptional wear may occur.

It is a further object of the invention to provide improved means fordetaining the leaves in their normal radial positions, the invention inthis aspect being in the nature of an improvement upon the inventiondisclosed and claimed in the application of Edmund Peremi and CharlesKish, for Revolving doors, Serial No. 696,958 filed November '7, 1933.

One feature relating to the improved detent mechanism has to do with theprovision of means for controlling the spring loading of the detentwhich is adapted to determine any one of a series of graduated maximumresistances, so that guess work as to the maximum spring loading andmeasurements to determine the actual spring loading are unnecessary.

Other objects and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the drawings forming part of this specification,

Figure l is a secondary plan View illustrat ing a revolving doorembodying the invention, the door being shown in dotted lines as foldedand moved to one side of the doorway;

Figure 2 is a View in elevation of the door structure of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary, sectional, detail view taken on the sectionline 3-3 of Figure 5 looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary, sectional, detail view taken on the sectionline 4-4 of Figure 5 looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary view in sectional elevation takensubstantially along a diametrical plane that extends centrally of a pairof opposed leaves;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary plan view illustrating the inner ends of theleaves and the leaf guiding and retaining mechanism;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating the pivoted endsof the detent arms employed on the leaves; and

Figure 8 is a view generally similar to Figure 6 but illustrating theleaves in a folded condition.

The door 1 comprises a series of leaves 2' which are mounted upon arotary central support 3 to turn within a doorway. The doorway comprisesthe usual arcuate guides 4,]a floor 5 and a ceiling wall 6. The centralrotary support includes a vertical shaft 7 which extends through theceiling wall and is revolubly suspended from a trolley (not shown) Thetrolley is movable upon a track (not shown) to move the folded leaves toone side of the doorway into the position illustrated in dotted lines inFigure 1.

The vertical shaft '7 has fixed upon it a pair of discs 8, onelocatednear the lower end of the shaft and the other near the upper endthereof. Sleeves 9 are disposed around the shaft above, below andbetween the discs 8. Each of the discs is formed to interact withcooperating elements on the leaves for supporting the leaves, fornormally retaining the leaves in radial positions, and for guiding theleaves in their folding movements. The leaf carried members are mountedin a hanger 10 which comprises complementary housing plates 11 and 12.

Each disc 8 is provided with a circular groove 13 which is common to allthe leaves and cam grooves 15, for each leaf which come together in asocket 14. The grooves 15 cooperative with one door leaf curve outwardin opposite directions from the socket 14 and communicate at their.outer extremities with groove 15 for controlling adjacent leaves. Inradial alignment with each of the sockets 14 provision is made of aguide pin or projection 16.

Each hanger 10 has fixed upon it a guide pin 17 which is normally seatedin the base of one of the sockets 14 and which may travel along and beguided by the socket walls and the grooves 15. Eachhanger 11 is alsoprovided with an outer pin 18 having an arcuate shoe l9 pivoted thereon.The shoe 19 fits in the roove 13 and is guided by said groove so thatthe cam is of such contour and dimensions in relation to theconfigurations and dimensions of the guide grooves 13 and 15 and thesocket 14 that the cam is caused to travel in engagement with the guidepin 16 from. the beginning. of a folding movement until after the pin 17has fully entered one of the grooves 15. The hanger is also providedwith a guiding surface 21 which bears against the outer side ofthe pin-16 until the hanger has cleared the pin.

The provision of the cam 20 is particularly important for the reasonthat the cam 20 and the pin 16' afford support for positively guidingthe door movement at the time when the pin 17 is passing over from" thesocket 14 into one of the grooves 15', at which time the pin 17 is notso completely supported as in the other stages of" the folding movement.The folding movement may be terminated when a leaf has been folded to aposition 2a or 21) illustrated in Figure 8', namely 45 from normal, butany. one of the leavesmay be folded further to a position such asillustrated at 20 or 2d in- Figure 8, namely 135 removed from normal.

The grooves 15 for controlling adjacent leaves communicate with oneanother so that the pins 1'7'of adjacent Ieaves'may have freedom totravel to a common point at the common extremity of two suchcommunicating branch grooves. The limit of movement, however, is reachedsimultaneously with the arrival of the pin 17 in suchposition. Each pin16' is so located. with reference to the center of the shaft. 7." thatit is adapted to serve as a positive stop for preventing movementofeither leaf adjacent the leaf which it is designed to control, beyonda position- 135 displaced from normal.

In accordance with one feature of the present invention, provision ismade of improved detent means for normally retaining the leaves inradial positions. This: detent means follows generally the principle andconstruction of the detent means illustrated and claimed in pendingapplication Serial No. 695,958 hereinbefore referred: to.

Each leaf carries adetent including angularly related arms 22 and 231which are pivoted at their outer ends upon a vertical pivot pin 24'mounted in a slide 25. The arms 22- and. 23 have ears 26 and. 27',respectively, which are mounted, one below; the other above, upon thepivot pin 2.4; A light" spring 28 isreceived within a bore 29" at theouter end? of the slide 25 and bears against an; abutmentshoulder: 30fixed on the lower hanger'plate. 1 2. The slide is providedwithazbeveled face 31 at: the upper'outer corner thereof, which' engagesa beveled face 32 at the forward end of a. lever 38; The lever 33" isfulcrumedupon a transverse pin 34', and the outer end of the lever bearsnormally against a stop- 35 fixed on the upper; housing plate 11', beingheld thereagainst by a plunger 36.

The: plunger 36 has astem portion which is slidingly mounted in: abore37 formed in a carrier 38-. A spring 39" surrounds the; plunger andurges it upward, bearing at. its: upper end,

against the head of the plunger and at its lower end in the base of anannular groove 40 which is formed in the carrier 38. The carrier 38 isarranged to be moved longitudinally of the lever 33 to carry the plunger36 toward and from the fulcrum of the lever 33. to vary theeffectiveness of the spring in resisting the outward thrust of the slide25. For this purpose, the carrier 38 has a rack bar 41 secured upon it,and a pinion 42 is provided for operating the rack bar. The pinion shaft43 has a square opening 44 formed in it which is accessible from theexterior of, the door. leaf and which may be operated by the insertiontherein of a square key.

Statutes and ordinances in various jurisdictions specify maximum limitsof resistance to folding which may not be exceeded. These limits. vary,however, for diiferent jurisdictions, so that it is desirable to providea construction in which the maximum resistance to folding may beadjusted to any one of a series of predetermined values.

To this end provision is made on the carrier 38 of a plate 45 having astop member 46 projecting from one face thereof. The plate 45 isprovided with a pair of screw holes 47 through which attaching screws 48may be passed; The carrier 38 is provided with a series of threadedopenings 49 adapted to be used selectively in pairs to effectsecureinent of the plate 45 to the carrier in predetermined positions.

With the setting. illustrated in Figure 5 the spring 39 applies thehighest maximum resistance for which the mechanism can be set. With thissetting the plunger 36 may be moved by operation of the pinion 42 to aposition directly beneath the fulcrum of the lever 33 to render thespring 39 wholly inefiecti've to resist folding movements. When it isdesired to restore the initial effectiveness of' the spring, the pinion42 is simply operated in the opposite direction until the stop member 46engages an arresting-member 50' fixed on the lower housing plate 12.Abullet catch 51 engageable with a recess in the lower faceof the plate45 yieldingly retains the carrier in this outer position.

Should the door be intended for use in ajurisdiction where the; maximumresistance to folding is of a lower value than that for which the partsare set in the Figure 5 position, the plate 45 will not be attached tothe carrier 38 inthe position illustrated, but a pair of the holes 49-appropriate to the situation will be utilized for the reception of thescrews 48. In thiscase the stop member 46 and the arresting member 50will be in engagement to prevent outward movement of the carrier 38 whenthe plunger 35 is located nearer to the fulcrum of the lever 33 than theposition illustrated in Figure 5. As before, however, the pinion 42 maybe operated to move the plunger into alignment with the fulcrum of thelever 33 and to return it to its original; position. When such originalposition is restored the bullet catch 51 will, as before, be effectivetoprevent unintended shifting. of the carrier 38.

Each of the arms 22- and 23, together with the slide block 25, forms atoggle for resisting folding movement of a leaf in: one direction.v Thetoggle 22, 25 requires to be straightened; in. order to, permit movementof the leaf counterclockwise and the toggle 23, 25 requires to bestraightened. in order to permit movement. of the leaf clockwise. Theendsv of the arms 22 and 23 engage,

respectively, in notches 52 and 53 formed in the periphery of the disc8. The arm of the toggle which is straightened in a folding movementceases to resist folding as soon as the dead center position of thetoggle is crossed, and such arm rides thereafter upon the periphery ofthe disc. It will be observed from an inspection of the detent carriedby the leaf illustrated at 2d in Figure 8 that the toggle arm 23 hastraveled over the notch 52 which is provided for normally detaining thearm 23 of an adjacent leaf. It is not desired that the arm 23 engage inthis notch on the return movement. The periphery of the disc 8 isaccordingly provided with a hump or projection 54 for guiding the arm 23clear of such notch 52. It is desired, however, to assure that the arm23 will enter the notch 53 by which it is intended normally to bedetained. Each hump or projection 54 is extended therefore for the fulldistance between the paired notches 52 and 53 and provided with beveledends leading into the notches. It is apparent, of course, that each humpacts in the same way regardless of the direction in which the leaves areswung, the arrangement being such that any pair of adjacent leaves maybeswung toward one another into parallel positions such as 2a and 2b, andthe remaining leaves may be swung through 135 each, in oppositedirections, to positions like those indicated at 20 and 2d.

While we have illustrated and described in detail certain preferredforms of our invention, it is to be understood that changes may be madetherein and the invention embodied in other structures. We do not,therefore, desire to limit ourselves to the specific constructionillustrated, but intend to cover our invention broadly in Whatever formits principle may be utilized.

We claim:

1. In a revolving door in combination, a rotary central support, leavesfoldably mounted on the support, and means holding the leaves to thesupport and positively guiding them in their folding movements inopposite directions comprising a cam disc on the support having acontinuous annular groove, a socket for each leaf,:

outwardly extending cam grooves extending divergently from each socket,and a stationary guiding projection for each leaf, each leaf having apair of guide elements for cooperating, respectively, with the annulargroove and with the cam grooves, and a cam having bearing engagementwith the guiding projection on the disc.

2. In a revolving door, in combination, a rotary central support, leavesfoldably mounted on the support, and means holding the leaves to thesupport and positively guiding them in their folding movement inopposite directions comprising a cam disc on the support having anannular groove common to all leaves, a socket for each leaf, andoutwardly extending cam grooves extending divergently from each socket,and a pair of guide elements on each leaf for cooperating, respectively,with the annular grooves and with the cam grooves.

3. In a revolving door, in combination, a rotary central support, leavesfoldably mounted on the support, and means holding the leaves to thesupport and positively guiding them in their folding movements inopposite directions comprising a cam disc on the support having acontinuous annular groove, a socket for each leaf, outwardly extendingcam grooves extending divergently from each socket, and a station- 'aryguiding projection for each leaf, each leaf having a pair of guideelements for cooperating respectively, with the annular and cam grooves,and a cam having bearing engagement with the guiding projection on thedisc, the leaf carried cam being so shaped with respect to theconfigurations of the grooves in the disc that it is caused to travel incontact with the guiding projection on the disc at the time when theguide element, cooperative with the cam grooves, passes from the socketinto one of the cam grooves.

4. In a revolving door in combination, a rotary central support, leavesfoldably mounted on the support, and means holding the leaves to thesupport and positively guiding them in their folding movements inopposite directions comprising a cam disc on the support having acontinuous annular groove, a socket for each leaf, outwardly extendingcam grooves extending divergently from each socket, and a stationaryguiding projection in radial alignment with each socket, and each leafhaving a pair of guide elements for cooperating respectively with theannular and cam grooves, and a cam havin bearing engagement with theguiding projection in the normal radial position of the leaf andthroughout the folding movement in either direction until after theguide element, cooperative with the socket has fully entered one of thecam grooves.

5. In a revolving door in combination, a rotary central support, leavesfoldably mounted on the support, and means holding the leaves to thesupport and positively guiding them in their folding movements inopposite directions coinprising a cam disc on the support having acontinuous annular groove, a socket for each leaf, outwardly extendingcam grooves extending divergently from each socket, and a stationaryguiding projection in radial alignment with each socket and each leafhaving a pair of guide elements for cooperating respectively with theannular and radial grooves, and a cam having bearing engagement with theguiding projection in the normal radial position of the leaf andthroughout the folding movement in either direction until after theguide element, cooperative with the cam grooves has fully entered one ofthe cam grooves, each guiding projection being so located with referenceto the axis of the central support and the configurations and dimensionsof the other leaf guiding means, that it is adapted to serve as a stopfor limiting swinging of either leaf, adjacent the one controlled by it,to a position substantially 135 removed from normal.

6. In a revolving door, in combination, a rotary central support, leavesfoldably mounted on the support, and means holding the leaves to thesupport and positively guiding them in their folding movements inopposite directions comprising a cam disc on the support having acontinuous annular groove, a socket, for each leaf, outwardly extendingradial grooves extending divergently from each socket, and a stationaryguiding projection in radial alignment with each. socket, and each leafhaving a pair of guide elements for cooperating respectively with theannular and cam grooves, and a cam having bearing engagement with theguiding projection in the normal radial position of the leaf andthroughout the folding movement in either'direction until after theguide element cooperative with the cam grooves has fully entered one ofthe cam grooves, said leaf carried cam being ovate: in form and havingits lesser dimension disposed widthwise of the leaf.

7'. In a revolving door, in combination, a rotary central support,leaves foldably mounted on the support, and means holding the leaves tothe support and positively guiding them in their folding movements inopposite directions comprising a cam disc on the support having acontinuous annular groove, a socket for each leaf, outwardly extendingcam grooves extending divergently from each socket, and a stationaryguiding projection in radial alignment with each socket, and each leafhaving a pair of guide elements for cooperating respectively with theannular and cam grooves, and a cam having bearing engagement with theguiding projection in the normal radial position of the leaf andthroughout the folding movement in either direction until after theguide element, cooperative with the cam grooves, has fully entered oneof the cam grooves, said leaf carried cam being ovate in form and havingits lesser dimension disposed Widthwise of the leaf, and lying whollyWithin the normal lateral bounds of the leaf.

8. In a revolving door, in combination, a rotary central support, leavesfoldably mounted on the support, and means holding the leaves to thesupport and positively guiding them in their folding movements inopposite directions comprising a cam disc on the support having acontinuous annular groove, a socket for each leaf, outwardly extendingcam grooves extending divergently from each socket, and a stationaryguiding projection in radial alignment with each socket, and each leafhaving a pair of guide elements for cooperating respectively with theannular and cam grooves, and a cam having bearing engagement with theguiding projection on the disc, the cam grooves being symmetricallydisposed with relation to the guiding projection, and the cam on thedoor leaf being symmetrically' formed and disposed with relation to thecentral plane of the leaf.

9. In a revolving door, in combination, a rotary central support, leavesfoldably mounted on the support, and means holding the leaves to thesupport and, positively guiding them in their folding: movements inopposite directions comprising a cam disc on the support having anannular groove common to all leaves and two cam grooves for each leafextending divergently, the outer extremities of the cam grooves foradjacent leaves being in communication with one another, and a pair ofguide elements on each leaf for cooperating, respectively, with saidgrooves.

10. In a revolving door, in combination, a rotary central support,leaves foldably mounted on the support, and means holding the leaves tothe support and positively guiding them in their folding movements inopposite directions comprising a cam disc on the support having anannular groove common to all, leaves and two outwardly extending camgrooves for each leaf extending in opposite directions from a commonmasse point, all of the. cam grooves being disposed inside, and clearof, the annular groove, and apair of guide elements on each leaf forcooperating,

respectively, with said annular and cam grooves.

11. In a revolving door, in combination, a rotary central support,leaves foldably' mounted on the support, and means normally retainingthe, leaves in radial positions comprising in each instance an abutmentdevice on the central support, a detent normally engaging the abutmentdevice, a spring for urging the detent to engaging position, a springcarrier operable to move the spring to alter the effect thereof upon thedetent, a stop member on the spring carrier, and an arresting membersecured on, a fixed part of the door leaf and cooperative with the stopmemher to define a fixed limit of movement of the carrier in a directionto increase the eifectiveness of the spring, and cooperating means onthe carrier and the stop member mechanically determining a plurality ofpositions of attachment of the stop member to the carrier, each toprovide, a predetermined maximum effectiveness of the spring.

12. In a revolving door, in combination, a. rotary central support,leaves foldably mounted on the support, and means normally retaining theleaves in radial positions comprising in each instance an abutmentdevice on the central support, a detent normally engaging the abutmentdevice, a spring for urging the detent to engaging position, a springcarrier. operable to move the spring to alter the effect thereof uponthe detent, a stop member on the spring carrier, a stop member on afixed part of the door leaf and cooperative with the stop member on thespring carrier to define a fixed limit of movement of the carrier in adirection to increase the effectiveness of the spring, and means forremounting and relocating one of said stop members. in a newmechanically determined position to provide another predetermined limitof effectiveness of the spring.

13. In a revolving door, in combination, a rotary central support,leaves foldably mounted on the support, and means for retaining theleaves in their normal positions with relation to the central supportcomprising a disc on the central support and a detent on each leafincluding a pair of alternatively effective toggles, each toggleincluding a disc engaging arm and requiring to be straightened in orderto permit the door to.

be folded in one direction, the inner disc engaging ends of the discengaging arms being normally spread apart, and the disc having spacednotches for receiving the respective arms and being provided with aprojection between thenotches of each pair to guide the toggle arms ofadjacent leaves clear of the associated notches and to assist indirecting the toggle arms of the '1 associated leaf into the notcheswith which they are intended to cooperate.

EDMUND PEREMI;

CHARLES KISH.

